With more than 400 doctors taking their lives each year in the United States, the issue of physician suicide in Canada is of growing concern to the medical community.

A photo of a doctor crouched outside of a hospital after losing a teenaged patient recently went viral, triggering calls online for more mental health care support for doctors.

With the equivalent of a graduating class of new doctors being lost to suicide each year in the U.S., the associate medical director of the Ontario Medical Association’s Physician Health Program said it's important for Canada to take steps to curb the issue domestically.

"The concerns here mirror those in the United States. We've known for a number of decades that physicians have a higher risk of attempted and completed suicide," Dr. Derek Puddester told CTV's Canada AM.

"One of the unique things about Canada is we have a lengthy history of trying to reach out and support doctors right from the very beginning of their careers to try to prevent such tragedies."

Puddester said that medical schools are increasingly looking at ways to de-stigmatize mental health issues and treatments within the medical community, so that physicians feel more open to seeking help early on.

He added that although doctors face the same challenges in their personal lives as average Canadians, "they've also chosen to work in a part of our society that is full of pain and tragedy."

"Often, we're the ones, like other health care professionals, who witness and contain incredible amounts of trauma, loss – some things that are truly horrific," he said.

"So there are a number of workplace factors. And again we're like every other human in the country: we're vulnerable to things like depression, anxiety, substance use."

Male doctors in the U.S. commit suicide at a rate 70per cent higher than other professionals, but for women, the rate is between 250per cent and 400 per cent higher, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Puddester said there needs to be a continued focus within the Canadian medical community to encourage doctors to speak openly about their experiences, adding that "it's so important to talk openly."

A list of mental health resources is available for doctors on the OMA's website.